Millennials live in a dichotomy. Much of what they desire is the consequence of what they were not given, and this places their interests in disharmony with their strengths. Surveys report that music is the millennial generation’s number one priority, yet they have witnessed the arts being devalued in public education throughout their entire lives. Broken promises of employment and job security makes them crave entrepreneurship while standardized testing and government mandated curriculum have arguably educated them out of creativity. Millennials want to change the world but have grown up in a society where corruption (government, wall street, and charity) has produced a high number of disaffected youth.
Do millennials feel entitled to succeed? Certainly. Many have been told since pre-school that they are on a track to Harvard. Moreover, “earning” ribbons and trophies simply for participation has removed possible failure from the equation, negating the value of taking risks.
Ultimately, millennials want to be defined by their passions, not their careers. “Who you are” as opposed to “what you do” is paramount. However, they have been kept so preoccupied by helicopter parents needing to procure the family brand that most millennials have never been bored enough to discover their true passion in the first place.